Are You Forsaken

Psalm 22 in the Bible begins with the most anguished cry in human history: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These are the words that Jesus took on His lips at the depth of His suffering on the cross. His suffering on the cross. His suffering was unique at that point as He offered Himself up for the sins of all people. And so, we have tended to see this cry as unique to Jesus. But such an approach to these words is clearly wrong. Jesus was not inventing unique words to interpret His suffering.

Rather He was quoting Psalm 22:1. These words were first uttered by David, and David was speaking for all God’s people. We need to reflect on these words and the whole Psalm as they relate to Jesus and to all His people in order to understand them fully.

The psalm begins with a section dominated by agonized prayer of David. David is expressing in the first place his own experience about feeling abandoned by God. Here is the most intense suffering God’s servant can know-not just that enemies surround him and that his body is in dreadful pain, but that he feels that God doesn’t hear him and does not care about his suffering. And this is not just the experience of David. It is the experience of all God’s people in the face of terrible trouble. We wonder how our loving heavenly Father can stand idly by when we are is such distress.

Yet, even in this extreme distress, David never loses faith or falls into complete hopelessness. His anguish leads him to prayer, and the first words of the prayer are “My God.” Even in his suffering and wondering about God is his God. Amid his anguish, he articulates that faith. He remembers God’s past faithfulness. “In you our fathers trusted, they trusted, and you delivered them. To you, they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and we’re not put to shame.” Then David remembers God’s past care in his own personal life: “Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you I was I cast from by birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” A recurring spiritual remedy in the Psalms is to fill the mind with memories of God’s past faithfulness to assure us of His present faithfulness.

We see David’s hope also in the earnestness of his prayer for present relief. He knows that God can help, and he turns to God as the only one who can help him. “But you, O’ Lord, do not be far off O you my help, come quickly to my aid!” We must never stop praying; even in our deepest distress.

In John Calvin’s commentary, he concluded that a sense of being forsaken by God, far from being unique to Jesus or rare for the believer, is a regular and frequent struggle for believers. He wrote, “There is not one of the godly who does not experience in himself the same thing. According to the judgment of the flesh, he thinks he is cast off and forsaken by God, while yet he apprehends by faith the grace of God, which is hidden from the eye of sense and reason.” We must not think that living the Christian life is easy or that we will not daily have to bear the cross.

This Psalm is not only the experience of every believer, but it is also a very remarkable and specific prophecy of the suffering of Jesus. We see the scene of the crucifixion especially clearly in the words, “A company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet-I can count all my bones-they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them and they cast lots.” (Auction off) Here we see that indeed this Psalm comes to it’s fullness realization in Jesus.

Jesus knew this Psalm and quoted its first words to identify with us in our suffering since He bore on the cross our agony and suffering. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has power over death.” (Hebrews 2:14) Jesus does deliver us by becoming our substitute and sacrifice for our sins.

The Prison Of Fear Is A Death Sentence

There is a prison that has an inmate population in the billions. It’s a prison without walls, without barbed wire, without guards and without any physical barrier.

But it’s the most effective prison in thr whole world. Few escape it, but those who do find real and lasting freedom. That prison is in our minds.

It is a prison that holds back our initiative, our talent, our ability to to express ourselves and most of all, it holds back the fulfillment of our full potential as human beings.

That prison is fear. Our lives today are controlled by fear more than we know. Fear controls the choices we make, out actions, our habits, and even our destinies. Fear has become one of the greatest threats to humanity in this day in its many forms.

Terrorism has become the pinnacle of fear worldwide. Recent events in the world have shown how fear can drive even those that are powerful to behave desperately and inhumanly. But the effect of fear in our personal lives is more damaging that any terrorist can ever hope to achieve.

Fear of life prevents most of us from living. Fear of life? Yes. Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem to be more afraid of life than death.

Overcoming Fear

The many faces of fear in its extremes fear in our personal lives causes anxiety and phobias. For people with such illnesses the prison of fear can seem like a death sentence.

Their lives may be totally controlled by fear making life totally unenjoyable and everyday tasks are a real struggle. Fortunately, this is not the most common manifestation of fear.

The far most destructive from of fear is one that we have come to accept because it is so common.

Whether your fears involve your relationship, career, death, or discomfort, staying inside your comfort zone will ensure you’ll live a small life.

Overcoming fear

Fear can stop you from progressing.

There are those of you out there will brilliant ideas. What holds you back is fear. We all think about the statistics on how many will fail, or what our friends and family will think of us if you quit our jobs to pursue our dreams.

The fear of not being able to pay your bills, fear of getting fired, fear of starting over and fear of not having a job title all hold us back.

It is fear that keep most of us in jobs we do not enjoy and sometimes,that don’t even meet our financial needs.

The fear of taking risks in one that few people are able to overcome. Risk is the potential harm that may arise from some present process or from some future event.

Any every area of life risk-taking is a necessary thing. If you propose marriage to someone you have to be able take the risk that they may say no. If you are in a race you have to take the risk that you may lose miserably.

I have a nephew that enters marathons all over the state, where we live. Every marathon he enters, whether it’s running, swimming, biking he takes the risk of not winning. But he doesn’t quit because it causes him to keep trying. He doesn’t fear doing what he loves, he just keeps on going.

If you want to live life to the fullest you have to take the risk of failure. A quote by Dorthy Thompson said “Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.”

Fear will paralyze you if you don’t deal with it. It will absolutely stop you from living a life that you desire. Recognize it. Conquer it.

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” – Eleanor Roosevelt-

You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.

Never Underestimate The Power Of Believing In Yourself

You’ve probably been told to believe in yourself multiple times in your life. While you may not have taken it too seriously, there is power in that advice. Believing in yourself sets the foundation for your journey on the road to success. It can be the motivation you need to get yourself out of depression or a tough situation in your life.

When you believe in Yourself, you:

Talk Yourself Up Internally

You can talk yourself up internally. When you believe in yourself, you reinforce the notion that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to do. This may seem fairly obvious, but so many of us are filled with crippling self-doubt that hinders us from even taking the first step towards success. Rather than having an inner monologue revolving around whether you can accomplish a certain task, your positive mindset reaffirms the belief that you’re a fully capable human being with many talents.

Talk Down Your Fears

Just as you talk yourself up by believing in yourself, you also erase any self-doubt you have in your mind. When you stop talking yourself up, your mind wanders to questions that may stop you in your tracks: What if I don’t succeed? What if something goes wrong? What if people don’t like my idea?

Yes. There are a million things that would go wrong, and something new might not always work out. Without believing in yourself, it can seem like there are a million ways to to fail and only one way to succeed. Don’t sabotage yourself before you even get the ball rolling.

Reflect On Past Success

No matter how much you’ve failed in your life, you’ve undoubtedly experienced success in a variety of ways. When you believe in yourself, you constantly look back on all the times you’ve used your talents to do well in your life. Not only do you realize your successes, but you also frame your failures simply as times your efforts didn’t pay off. Those that constantly look down on themselves often let their abilities to try something new and improve their lives.

Think Realistically

When you believe in yourself, you see your actions from a variety of perspectives. You’ll see how your efforts positively impact others and you’ll understand how important you are to your community. Furthermore, you’ll also see how little your mistakes matter. Nobody truly cares enough to laugh at you or judge you when you mess up. People have enough problems of their own. Most people are just too busy with their own lives to waste time thinking about anyone else. When you believe in yourself, it’s okay to inflate your own self-esteem and worthiness, but you should never exaggerate the way that others perceive you.

Count Your Victories

Just as you reflect on your past successes, you’ll also start to see how many small victories you really have throughout your life. Every time you make progress in life, you’ve won. In fact, every single day you are alive is a day that you won. Just because you fail at times doesn’t mean you’ve lost. This just means your victories has been put off for the time being. When playing a game, you either win or lose. In live, even when you talk short of your goal, you can find a small victory in your efforts.

You Never Lose. Either You Win Or You Learn.

Celebrate Yourself

When you talk yourself up and believe in yourself, you’re celebrating your life. When you count every small victory you’ve ever experienced, you’re throwing yourself the opposite of a pity party. Too many times, we focus on the negative aspects of ourselves and get caught up in a loop of detrimental thinking. Believing in yourself helps break that cycle. We begin to see all of our weaknesses as aspects to be improved, all our strengths as reasons to celebrate.

Being Broken

Some People Survive

Some people talk about it. Some people survive and go silent. Some people survive and create. Everyone deals with unimaginable pain in their own way, and everyone is entitled to that, without judgment. So the next time you look at someone’s life covetously, remember… You may not want to endure what they’re enduring right now, at this moment, whilst they sit so quietly before you, looking like a calm ocean on a sunny day. Remember how vast the ocean’s boundaries are. Whilst somewhere the water is calm, min another place in the very same ocean, there is a colossal storm. -Nikita Gill-

I copied a simple wisdom quote today.

I fell this morning and broke my ankle in three places. Please pray I don’t need surgery. Thank you everyone.

Reasons Why Your Soul Matters

What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? -Matthew 16:26

Picture a balance-you know, one of those scales on which they weigh mail and packages and frozen meat and newborn iguanas (I saw that on the Discovery Channel.) Imagine that one side of the scale has all the stuff you already have or are trying to gain. Tipping the scale would be all the possessions and activities you typically view as benefits, houses, cars, boats, vacations, swimming pools, stock portfolios, job titles, reputation, college degrees, iguanas, all the toys you’ve ever bought, and karate lessons.

Then, on the other side of the balance is simply… your soul.

It would seem obvious that the side will all the stuff should weigh down the balance, right? Wrong! In God’s divine measuring system, stuff always loses to the soul. Yet, when was the last time you stopped long enough to even consider your soul?

Your soul- that invisible and external part of you that connects you to God. It’s what makes you different than all other life forms on the planet: every human has a soul. Your soul is the real you. That’s why Jesus asked, ‘Is anything worth more than your soul?”

Jesus wanted us to understand that our souls are the most important part of who we are. Your soul is your most valuable “possession.” Because of this, your soul longs for the type of fullness whose warranty doesn’t wear out after sixty days-the fullness that only God can fill through regular connection. This is why we need to value, feed, and care for them. And having this fullness is critical because…of the reality of death.

I have tried to fill my soul with alcohol, drugs, sex, money, possessions, and evil, but my soul always came up empty. It wasn’t until I found God that I felt full.

One day each of us will die-at least physically, anyway. Our hearts will cease beating. Our bodies will stop and we’ll assume room temperature. But our souls will live for eternity. We can lose a body part or have an organ transplant, but it doesn’t alter the soul. Souls last.

When we connect with God, we not only access the power and guidance we need for each day, we also invest in our eternity-our real home and final location, the place where the risen Christ is preparing for us to join Him. Connecting with God is another way to prepare us for the time when we will be entrusted with “many things” for all eternity. By regular connection with God, we feed our souls and at the same time, we stash away spiritual capital that will last forever in the real adventure of being in the very presence of God.

Going Deeper:

How does your life reflect the truth that “your soul is your most valuable possession”?

What actions are you willing to take today in order to feed and care for your soul?